Angel's Island
by But I Have Promises To Keep
Summary: Can Mal find Natara and escape Angel's Island? Or wil they both be trapped forever in this seemingly supernatrual world?
1. The Bridge

**Hey, so I decided to write some more horror FanFic's. I put this under 'Romance' because I am planning on having major Maltara later. Also, just as a random side note, the location of this story (Angel's Island) is based off of a real place. **

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It's raining as I pull onto the bridge, and because of this I can't see two feet in front of me. The wooden bridge cracks beneath my car's weight, and I can't help but wonder how the bridge can even hold its own weight. Because of the heavy rain I nearly run into the large stone barriers blocking the path ahead of me, and I don't even see the woman running out to my car. I roll down my window as she approaches, wondering if I've taken a wrong turn.

"Are you lost?" she asks, peeking out from under her umbrella.

"Isn't this the bridge to Angel's Island?"

"Yeah…who are you anyways?".

I pull out my badge, figuring the road may be blocked off because of the case Natara was sent here for. "Detective Fallon, SFPD. I'm here to investigate the recent arson fires. I was supposed to meet my partner, Special Agent Williams, over an hour ago" I glance at the permanent-looking stone barriers on the bridge. "Is there another way in? I was supposed to—".

"Fires?" she says, looking at me strangely. "What do you mean 'fires'? The only fire I know of happened over twenty years ago, and since then this whole town's been abandoned. The only reason I'm here is to make sure no vandals come in, it's still dangerous. They still say the fire still burns underground…it was a coal mining town after all. The remaining coal's still burning, there's dangerous fumes leaking out everywhere, I doubt your friend went in there".

I pull out my cell phone to call Natara, thinking she might be right, but find I have no service.

"Look, I suggest you turn around. I've had to chase vandals out of here before. All I know that there's something just not right with this town. It's real creepy, you know?".

"I thought you said it was abandoned".

"It is" she says "It's just…this whole place…it just feels alive. Besides, the whole place's filled with cracks in the road from the fire and there are bogs all over the woods. Take one wrong step and you're dead. I'm telling you, just go look for your friend elsewhere".

I nod and she turns around, her silhouette fading in the rain. I wait until her figure disappears into the mist, then park and get out. I know Natara said she was going to Angel's Island. I know she got a call from their police department, begging for our help to solve a case with a serial arsonist, and that she accepted since it since it was only one county out of our jurisdiction. I know this is where she said she was going. I run through the rain, climbing over the stone barriers to the other side. It's almost like the world transforms on the other side of the barrier. The ground's littered with dead leaves and pine needles, vines reaching across the wood like bizarre green veins. Oddly enough, the moment I cross over it stops raining. I walk across the damp layer of rotting leaves until the bridge ends, and a dying forest begins. Dead and rotting trees reach up to the sky like giant skeletal hands, their leaves rotting on the forest floor. The forest's odd and uninviting, and it's obvious that the forest is not natural, as each of the trees are planted in perfect alignment. Despite the woman's warning, I blindly made my way into the woods, my footsteps muffled by the silence around me. I only make it a few feet, but suddenly the ground gives way beneath me and I come to a stop. I try to pull my foot out, but I'm already being sucked down, unable to move.

This was exactly what the woman warned me about. I'm being sucked down into a bog.

Before I can even try to get out again I'm buried up to my knees in mud, and as I try to get out I only I'm only sucked down faster. The muck reaches my waist…then my chest. I raise my arms above me, hoping the woman was lying about this place being abandoned and that someone would see me. I stop struggling, dreading what's coming next. The bog is going to rise above my mouth and nose, and in my last horrifying moment there will be no sound. I won't be able to scream, I will never come out.

The water bubbles, pulling me down further until it's up to my neck. The water's touch is cold and final, and I tilt my head up in hopes of a few more moments of air. The stench of mud and rotting leaves is overwhelming, and I know this vile air would be where my last breath comes from. The water is up to my chin now, taking me down centimeter by centimeter.

That's when I see it, a silhouette with a slight frame. At first I think it's Natara, or even the woman from earlier, but as they approach it takes more of a masculine shape.

"Don't move!" the man's voice calls, and I see him remove something from his back. It's a hunting bow, and I see him take an arrow from his quiver as if he's about to shoot me. Oh well, at least it'll be quicker than drowning. But then I see him attach something to the arrow, and I watch as it sails towards me and lands harmlessly just to my left. Attached to it is a rope. I grab it, and as soon as I do I feel a strong tug at the end. Before I know it I've been pulled out, and I'm sputtering for air at the feet of my savior. But when I look up, I see he's loaded another arrow, and it's pointing straight at me. The person holding it is a boy, seventeen at the most. His hair is almost long enough to reach his eyes and it's a soft copper color, plastered down with sweat. He's thin, but muscular with shifty, distrusting, brown eyes.

"What the hell were you doing?".

"Drowning…what did it look like?" I respond sarcastically. It looks like that woman was wrong, there are people still here.

"Haru!" I hear the shrill voice of a small girl call "Where are you?".

"Hannah, stay where you are!" the boy apparently called Haru yells back, quickly glancing in the voice's direction. He looks back at me, still aiming an arrow at my brain.

"What the hell are you doing here?".

"I'm looking for someone" I say quickly.

"Impossible, no ones come here in over twenty years. Your friend isn't here, and I suggest you leave".

"Look" I say, shivering as I get up. Haru looks like he wants me to stay down, but doesn't threaten to shoot. "I know she's here, I was supposed to meet her here".

Haru keeps his arrow in his bow, but his face softens slightly. His eyes become less narrow, revealing the soft green color that they really are. "Fine, I'll hear you out. But let's get back to town first, this isn't the best place to talk".

"You don't say" I comment sarcastically. He smiles slightly, removing his arrow from his bow and returning it to it's quiver in one fluid and practiced motion.

"Hannah!" he calls, and a moment later a girl of maybe twelve comes trotting out of the woods. I don't get a good look at the girl, because Haru's jabbing me in the back to tell me to move forwards. It's obvious that he doesn't trust me, and that he cares greatly for the girl, because from the corner of my eye I can see him draw Hannah closer to hide her behind himself.

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**Please review and let me know what you think?**


	2. The Flames

**mozzi-girl: Thanks! And yes, this place is real! They say it's haunted O.o (I want to go there really bad). And I have noticed people have been reviewing** **less, but I just think it's because of exams. I'm not entirely sure that all schools in all countries do this, but I know I have _huge _exams coming up. I'm pretty sure I've seen people say they do too, so I'm assuming other countries do it also, so people might be busy studying. Thanks for the review!**

**Oryt: Thanks so much! And I may have creeped a little on your profile to see what your name was so I could name her that…I do that every once in a while just to subtly say thanks to some of my regular reviewers :) I also just so happen to love that name :).  
**

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It only takes a few minutes of walking until the forest ends and the actual town of Angel Island begins. It's just as the woman on the bridge said, the air is heavy with a combination of smoke and fog, and there's an ever-present scent of sulfur. Buildings, some that must have once stood tall, now lay in decomposing heaps. Cracks, ranging from only inches wide to large enough to swallow me whole, appear along the road, smoke still pouring out. Graffiti covers the road like a large stain, spray paint discoloring the sidewalks like a big, ugly, tattoo upon the earth. Some people wrote their names, other's drew symbols that would mean nothing to anyone but the creator. It all intertwines, like one large and unorganized collage. Haru prods me every once in a while to make sure I'm moving in the right direction, but the layout of the town seemed fairly simple, not unlike a giant grid. Hannah, who I have yet to even see properly, runs slightly ahead of us, obscured by the smoke and mist.

"Aren't you worried she could fall in one of the cracks?" I ask. My voice sounds eerie in the silence of the town, since the only other sound is the squishing of my wet trainers as I walk.

"She can take care of herself, she has for a long time".

He leads me into a small shack-like house, where apparently Hannah just disapeared into. The room I enter into is a small sitting room, and it looks like its gone back in time. There's a small curved floral couch in one corner, an old floor-model TV with rabbit ears in the other. It looks like this room came straight from the 80's. On a nearby table I can see a newspaper, but something about it isn't right. The text is faded, so I can't see the date, but I can see what the large text of what was on the front page enough to read it.

'_Indira Gandhi assassinated in New Delhi_'.

"Haru?" I ask, "What's the date?".

"November 1st"

"What year?".

Haru laughs, the care-free laugh of a teenage boy. "Geez, you don't even know the year. You must be screwed up".

"Just answer the question".

"Fine, it's '84. You happy?" he says.

"Overjoyed" I respond acerbically "but you're wrong".

"What do you mean?" he asks.

"It's 2012. Unless, of course, you go by your own calendar here".

He looks at me, his eyes narrowed in distrust. "You're crazy".

"No, I'm not". I reach in my pocket to pull out my ID to prove to him that twenty-eight years has passed, but my wallet's missing. So is my gun and phone. Great, just great. I must have lost them in the bog.

"Look kid, I don't know what's going on here. All I know is—".

"Watch it" he says, his eyes narrowing as he stands a little taller. "I'm no 'kid'. I'm almost eighteen years old".

"Fine, but you need to listen. Is there anyone else here other than you and Hannah?".

He stares me down for a moment, as if challenging me. "No, it's just us".

"Haven't you wondered where everyones gone? Or why you never saw anyone paint on the road? Haven't you wondered why this town ended up this way?".

He bites his bottom lip, considering me for a moment. "I'm listening".

"There was a fire here, over twenty years ago. I don't know how you and Hannah ended up here, but I suggest you get out".

Initially, I thought I did have an idea of who these two people were. But it's impossible, too crazy to even consider. The only logical explanation is that Haru and Hannah have lived here since they were children, and never bothered to look into the outside world.

Haru's eyes become wide at this, and he looks at me as if I'm utterly mad. "We can't get out, it's impossible. There are only two ways off this island, three if you count swimming across the surrounding river, which is impossible with the current. One is the underground tunnels, which, if you haven't noticed, are on fire. The second is the bridge, which is destroyed as much as the rest of this dump".

"How do you think I got here?" I say aggressively "I took the bridge!".

"And I'm telling you it's impossible! I look every day, hoping there's a way out! Do you seriously think I want this life for my little sister? That I want this for Hannah?".

"Then how else did I get here then? I'm telling you, something is wrong here! I don't know if I've crossed into some crazy ghost town or what, all I know is the other side of that bridge is where things actually make sense—".

"—What did you just say?" he cut across me. "Did you just say 'the other side'?".

"Yeah, but I don't see why—".

Before I can finish my sentence Haru leaves the room, coming back only a minute later with a little black book. "Hannah used to write in this" he says "I took it from her when she claimed she has no memory of writing any of it, when she started writing about things that didn't actually happen". He opens the small latch on the side, skipping past the first few pages. "Most of it's just describing this huge fire, how everyone in this town will burn, but some of it—".

He passes the book to me, and I stare down at a block of tiny and untidy handwriting.

'_There is a wall between here and there, where reality and unreality intersect. It is both distant and near, the other side. It looms over me, following me like an unwanted grey cloud. Like a vulture waiting for me to die. It threatens me with what's coming, the flames that will claim most of us as its own, and will mark the rest of us forever…'_.

"Haru?".

I hear tiny footsteps on the stairs, and Haru yanks the book from my grip, hiding it behind his back. I see a pair of tiny legs from where the stairs and ceiling intersect, and I can't help but let my jaw drop as I see the girl's face.

"Haru, who's that—?". She stops speaking when she sees me staring at her, looking at me as if frightened. I will myself not to look so surprised, but I can't. I can't stop staring at her coffee-colored hair, her almond-shaped grey–brown eyes…

This girl, Hannah, looks exactly like a younger version of Natara.


	3. Heaven's Gate

**Review Replies:**

**Oryt: Thanks so much! I'm glad it made you so happy! Yeah, I usually don't base personality or looks off of people (especially people on here, I have no idea who anyone is as a person) but I know people have said before they love seeing their name here! Thanks so so much!**

**mozzi-girl: Thanks a lot! That really means a lot :) Good luck with your exams as well! I hate how my school does them, I have four (Geometry, Chemistry, Art and Agriculture) all packed into four days. Still, I'm rather lucky because Art isn't really that hard and my school allows us to exempt one exam if you have good grades, so I just get to do whatever the heck I want during the Geometry exam. Technically I should be studying rather than writing…but I dispise it and can't remember the last time I studied for anything O.o Anyways, thanks again for the review and good luck to you! Oh, and just so you know, the real place isn't called Angel's Island. It's a place (somewhere in America) called Centralia. **

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I jerk awake the next morning, some unknown noise startling me. I don't remember falling asleep, and it takes me a moment to realize where I am. When I do, I know that something's wrong. I'm sitting on the floral couch in the sitting room at the house Haru led me to, but the whole room has changed. The table's covered in cobwebs that weren't there before, and everything from the curtains to the furniture is rotting and moth-eaten. The windows, which I can see through the thin curtains, are broken, the little glass remaining yellowed with age. It's like Haru and Hannah didn't exist, and they never did. I vaugly realize that my clothes are clean and dry, as if I had never fallen in that bog. I get up and look outside, seeing that it's morning. Deciding it's useless to stick around here, I decide to see if what Haru said was true, that there really is no way out. I've been here overnight, surely someone noticed that Natara and I are missing and have started to look for us. If that's true, that means I could have help looking for her soon. I reach the edge of the woods with no other signs of life other than the occasional stray bird flying out from a tree, but I don't go past the tree line right away. The uniformness of the trees alignment is actually a curse, there's no way to tell which way is safe. There's no distinctive features to remember from yesterday to guide me. But Haru had to have a way to know where he was going, there's no way he has that good of a memory, and every tree looks eerily the same. Then I see it, buried beneath the pine needles and dead leaves is the faint tan-colored cement path. Hoping this path won't lead to my death, I follow it. I tread lightly, ready to snap back should the ground start to give way, but the earth stays firm underfoot. It's no wonder Haru walks around with his bow and arrows, with the soft carpet of damp leaves and pine needles he would have a ghost's tread and hunting would be easy. By following the path I reach the edge of the bridge with no problems, and I wonder if this was once somewhere where visitors would love to walk through on their way to town while this place was inhabited. It's misty, but from what I can tell the bridge seems perfectly intact. That is, until I take a few steps forward.

The entire bridge is literally gone. The wood ends in jagged splinters, and if a giant creature had slammed its palm down and broken off the middle of the bridge. I can't even see the other side, it's nothing more than a vast abyss of nothingness. The river, which I know completely circles the town like a giant moat, moves quickly and swiftly carries away any debris in its path. I know it's useless, and I immediately turn around and go back the way I came. How could that have happened? The bridge was just there yesterday, it couldn't have just disappeared!

I keep my head down on the way back, making sure I don't stray from the path. It takes me longer to make it back than it did to leave, and I know this is because I really have nowhere to go right now. No reason to hurry. As I approach town I can see something moving, something with a human form. Someone is sitting on the edge of a stone fence outside one of the larger homes. As I get closer the shapes take form, and I can see now that it's two people, one big, one small. It's Haru and Hannah, and I can see that Hannah has the black book from yesterday. She's reading it with wide eyes, as if she's only seeing it for the first time.

"…I don't remember" I hear her say.

"That's why we're gonna go there, then maybe you can".

As I approach I see Hannah's head jerk up first, obviously hearing my footsteps. Haru looks up and sees me, and his lips form a slight grin.

"Glad to see you're still among the living…_Detective_". He puts emphasis on the word 'detective', and as I get closer he tosses something to me; my badge. I catch it and put it in my jacket pocket without looking at it. "Hannah found it in the woods this morning, took her out for a little walk this morning after she…woke up".

By 'woke up' I have a feeling he means Hannah wrote something in this book again, something she can't remember writing. Haru must have taken her for a walk to calm her down. He tosses me the book, and I can tell by just looking at it Haru must have found her before she finished writing. There's a long pen streak at the end last word, clearly from when she dropped the pen.

'_Theres only one place that's safe. One place where life can go on. Heavens Gate—'_

I look back up and Haru and he explains "'Heavens Gate' is the name of the church we used to go to with our parents. It's just north of here, only a few blocks. Figure we might as well check it out".

As an answer I nod, and he and Hannah hop down from the fence. Haru's quiver and bow lay below, and he puts them both over his shoulder before we leave. I hand him back the book, and he tucks it in the inside pocket of his jacket. Hannah once again runs slightly ahead of us, a ghostly figure guiding us through the mist.

"So you're sorta a cop then, huh? You got a gun?".

Of course, the greatest appeal for a teenage boy to join the police force is carrying a gun. Because of this I can't help smile as I say "Yeah, I did. But I think I lost it in the bog".

"Oh" he says, and for a moment niether of us speak. "So…this 'friend' of yours…she your special lady or something?".

"What? No! She's just my partner, and a really good friend. That's all".

"What ever you say…" Haru says, and I can tell from his tone he doesn't believe me. I open my mouth to object, but before I can say anything Haru says "We're here".

Only a few meters away from me is a tall gate. It looks like it had once been a shiny gold color, but it's fallen to time. Hannah's waiting for us at the gate, obviously waiting for Haru to go in. As we approach I see that the latch is stuck, and Haru has to ram up hard with his hand several times to open it. The gate opens with an ominous creak, and it's only a short walk up a sidewalk into the chapel. As I enter I see that it's vast, with broken pews and chairs scattered everywhere. It doesn't have the same damage as the other remaining buildings, the main structures still intact and there's no trace of graffiti. Most of the stain-glass windows are intact, and so is a large chandelier that hangs above it all. Hannah walks around, her fingers brushing the walls that are obviously framiliar to her, but Haru only leans againt the wall. I can tell by his face he doesn't want to be here.

"Any reason you're making a face like you just got teeth pulled?" I ask.

"It's just…I haven't been here in so long. This is where my parents got married, and they used to drag me and Hannah here every Sunday morning. This is where my mom's funeral was held…and it's hard to believe it's the same place as all those years ago". He closes his eyes, leaning his head back as he asks "I just don't understand how nearly thirty years has passed. I was born in 1967! Do I look like a forty-five year old man to you? Or what about Hannah, she was born in 1972, does she look forty to you?".

I don't know what to say to that. I keep trying to find a logical explanation, when maybe there isn't one. But accepting that means I might have to accept that this town literally swallowed Natara up. Even if there's a logical explanation, it's possible Natara drowned in a bog somewhere, or even fell in one of the cracks in the road. No, I can't think like that. Natara's smart, and I have to assume she's alive until I'm proven otherwise.

I hear a loud creak, and before I know it I feel Haru shoving me out of the way. I stumble back, and the next thing I know there's an earsplitting crash and shards of broken glass fly everywhere. I instinctively cover my face with my arms, and when I look up I can feel my jaw drop.

Hannah's lying on the ground, and only feet from her is the heap of shattered glass that was the chandelier. It's clear Haru shoved her out of the way, but where is he? That's when I see the pool of red on the ground, emanating from under the heap of broken glass. I can see him now, the top part of his body is sticking out from the broken glass. Blood bubbles from between his lips, and I grab his and try and pull him out. He winces in pain, shaking his head to tell me to stop. He reaches behind him and grabs something, the little black book, and hands it to me with shaking hands. It must have fallen out of his pocket. I take it, and in one shallow and ragged breath Haru whispers "Trust…Hannah. She'll find…Natara…".

I want to ask him how he knows Natara's name, or how Hannah would know where she is. But Haru's body stops stirring, his chest stops rising. His eyes are still open, but they're glassy, and I know he can't see anything through them anymore.

I don't hear Hannah's tiny footsteps behind me. Either she's so light her footsteps are too quiet to hear, or she's acquired a hunter's tread from Haru, but the next thing I know she's kneeling next to her brother. I expected her to cry and to scream, to shake Haru and command that he wake up immediately. But she doesn't. Her face completely devoid of emotion, she takes one gentle hand and places one finger above each of Haru's eyes. Slowly, she slides her fingers down, closing her brother's eyes.


	4. The Boy and the Writer

**Thanks so much to _Oryt_ and _mozzi-girl _for reviewing :)**

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**Natara**:

I blink the the sleep from my eyes, not even realizing where I am for a moment. I was hoping it was a dream, a nightmare that would be chased away by the morning sun.

It's when I look around that I realize that this is real, that the nightmare doesn't end.

I'm under the barely-stable roofs of the two buildings next to me that form an alleyway, seeking shelter from the nights cold air. It's the second day I've been here, and I've already lost all hope of escape. The 'police station' that called me is nothing more than ashes. When I try and navigate through the streets to find the bridge again, I only end up going around in a circle. I don't want to pick myself up again, to have the disappointment of spending another day walking around in circles, knowing its useless. But I do anyways, painstakingly getting up to begin a second day of walking. I'm just about to leave the alleyway when I see it, a tiny figure in the mist. I can't make a face, but I can tell from here that it's a very young child. Judging from the short hair, I guess a boy. The figure stops, staring at me for a second before taking off.

"Wait, come back!" I call. I hear a high pitched laugh and the child begins to run, and I chase after him "Stop!".

I catch up to the child easily, grabbing his shoulder and turning him around. He grins widely, laughing as if this were some sort of game. He can't be more than eight, the very picture of child-like innocence. But there's something off about him. His hair is a darker blonde, the kind of color a child might have before it changes as they age. His eyes are a deep, charming blue, and it's as he looks up and smiles that I realize where I've seen this child before.

I'm looking at a younger version of Mal. Everything about him, other than the hair, is simply a more juvenile version of him.

"Who are you?" I ask, unable to keep the desperation out of my voice. This kid, weather he looks like Mal or not, could know a way out. "What is your name?".

The child grins widely again, showing off his missing baby tooth in the front. "I'll tell you…but first you have to catch me!".

He brakes away from where I was still holding his shoulder, and I have no choice but to chase him as he disappears into the mist. "Wait, come back!".

* * *

**Mal:**

I watch as Hannah, barely looking at her brother, picks herself up off the ground and brushes the broken glass off of her jeans. Without another word she walks, as if in a trance, to the back door.

"Wait, where are you going?" I call after her, but she ignores me. Only giving Haru's body a quick second glance as I follow her outside, I follow her out back to what looks like a large graveyard. She's standing over one of the crumbling headstones, rocking back and forth from on her heels as if she's nervous. As I get closer I know something's wrong. Her eyes show none of the grey-brown color, and her pupils take up her entire eye, making them look completely black. As I walk around the headstone I can see that it's one large headstone, one a family might share. The first one's faded, as if it were carved on long time ago.

'_Harriet Ryuzaki. 1942—1982'_

Beside it, in newer letters is:

'_Haru Ryuzaki, 1967—1984. _

_Hannah Ryuzaki, 1972—1984. _

_Harry Ryuzaki, 1940—1984'_.

"I saw it" Hannah says, staring at the headstone with tears in her eyes. "I saw the fire before it happened, before the mines caught on fire. But Dad didn't believe me, and neither did Haru".

I can't help but stare down in disbelief at the headstone. Hannah and Haru—they can't be dead…can they?

"I knew it today too" she whispers "I told Haru something was going to happen, but he didn't listen. But it's okay…He's where he belongs now. He's not trapped here anymore, he's gone to the other side".

I want to ask her about this 'other side', but I don't. All I ask is "How do you know this?".

Her head snaps up, and she whispers quietly "Because I listen". Without another word she takes off, sprinting as if her life depends on it.

"Wait!" I yell, running after her. But she's fast, her strides seamless and long. I chase her out onto a street corner, but as soon as I round the turn I run right into somebody, nearly getting knocked over. At first I think I've run into Hannah, but then I see who it really is.

"Natara?".

My jaw drops. It's her, the real Natara.

"What are you doing here?" she ask, looking around as if looking for someone.

"Looking for you". She keeps whipping her heard around, looking confused. "Lose something?".

"Have you seen a little boy? I saw him earlier, but he ran off!".

A little boy? "No, no ones here but—".

I turn to look for Hannah, and there is a girl standing there, but it doesn't look like her. The girl looks twelve like Hannah, but the resemblance stops there. She has the same soft brown hair as Haru, the same large green eyes and bony face. For the first time it actually looks like they could be related.

"If you follow those instructions you can take the mine tunnels out" she whispers softly. She grabs my wrist, turning my hand up and pressing something into my palm. She curls my fingers around it and let's go, walking away and disappearing into the mist.

"Shouldn't we go after her?" Natara asks.

"No" I say "she can take care of herself, she has for a long time".

Natara gives me an odd look, but I ignore her and look at what Hannah pressed into my hand. It's a map, or a fragment of one, that shows where the mine tunnels start. Written over it, in the same tiny and untidy scrawl of the notebook, it says:

_'Love will light the way'._


	5. Love Will Light the Way

**Thanks so much to Oryt and mozzi-girl for the reviews!**

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The south entrance to the mines is only a few blocks from where Hannah disappeared, and it only takes a minute to get there.

"Is she serious about this?" Natara says as soon as we get close.

The wooden frame of the door is hanging off, barely keeping the earth from closing the entrance to its depths completely. On the side of the entrance is a small sign. The words on it are worn, as if everyone who's passed has rubbed their hands on the wood. But you can still make out what it says. It's as if it's placed there just as a reminder of Hannah's words.

'_Love Will Light the Way'_

The entrance is still spewing out thick, dark, toxic-looking gas, and I know it would only take minutes for someone to suffocate in there.

"Only one way to find out". Without looking back at her I pull my shirt above my mouth, walking straight towards the smoke. In the corner of my eye I can see Natara do the same. My eyes water as soon as I reach the doorway, but I don't even pause as I enter. The light behind me seems to disappear, and I can barely see a few inches in front of me. I feel Natara grab my hand, surely so she doesn't lose me in the dark, and her shoulder brushes mine as she begins to walk beside me. Together we take a several blind steps forwards, but it's clear the smoke is too much. Even though we've barely moved ten meters away from the door, we both have to stop because neither of us can breathe. I turn to look back, hoping we can go the other way, but it's like the darkness has swallowed us. There is only one thought that runs through my head.

We are going to die here.

I don't know if it's the suffocating heat, the lack of oxygen or that fact that this could be my last act, but I reach over and pull Natara close to me. I figure if I'm going to die, I want to die with someone I trust.

When Natara speaks her words are strained and barely audible, her voice hoarse. She only manages two words, but those two words I would never expect to come out of her mouth. "I'm…scared…".

Natara, scared? I had never heard anything of the sort come from her before. At this point we were both gasping for air, and I was getting lightheaded. "It'll…be…okay…" I managed to choke out.

"…Don't…lie…".

Her hand is sweaty in mine, the heat is almost too much to bare. I pull my shirt down from my mouth, thinking that I might as well make my death as swiftly painless as possible. Since her face is only inches from mine, I can see her do the same.

Maybe it's the pressure, or maybe the fact that I knew my time was limited, but I did something that I had wanted to do for over a year.

I lean forward and kiss her. I have no idea why, in what could very well be out last moments, this thought even crossed my mind. But for the same reason I didn't think it through. But she was kissing me back, perhaps for the same reason I had done it to her. I close my eyes, waiting for death to come, but it doesn't. In fact, I can't even smell the smoke anymore. The air is pleasantly cool and I can feel something dripping on my shoulder…rain?

I open my eyes, expecting to see the darkness of the tunnels, but I'm instead greeted by the sight of my car on the bridge. I look over to make sure Natara's still there, and find she is standing next to me, her hand still in mine. Her face is scrunched up in the same confusion that must have shown on my own face. It's raining hard, but considering where we were only a few moments ago it's still a great improvement. It's the same weather as the day I entered Angel's Island…it's as if we hadn't been gone for more than a few moments.

"Maybe we should just forget about this…put this whole thing behind us" Natara says quietly.

Before I answer I glance behind me, seeing that the bridge that was previously broken is completely intact. The same vein-like vines creep up the sides of the bridge, the same soft carpet of leaves layering the ground. Even the heavy stone barriers that were there earlier are still there. Through the thick mist I can see a figure, seemingly watching us. I can't tell who it is, but whoever it is remains completely still, like a hunter watching their prey.

"I don't think that's really an option and besides—". I watch as the figure nods at me, an approving gesture that's so small I can barely see it at this distance "I don't know if I really want to".


End file.
